Speed= Success ft Zoroark! (Peaked high 1800's on Showdown)

[GoliathGarchomp]

Hi all and welcome to my second RMT of BW2. Anyway after a long break from pokemon (I’m sure a lot if us have been there) I finally got my passion for competitive battling back. Anyway I was looking through the BW2 General Metagame Discussion thread just to gain some knowledge on the metagame and saw people talking about Zoroark in OU and how it's actually good/viable so that’s how I decided to make this team. I don't get to play a lot of Showdown as it gets lagy and frustrating to play not only for me but probably my opponent 2 as I take a fair while to select moves. After a couple of days of laddering I remember this team being in the high 1800's before the ladder got reset which is pretty good for me. Unfortunately I haven’t had the patience to get back on showdown since but I’ve been using it in Wi-Fi and it's done pretty well there. So without further ado here's the team, please feel free to make suggestions for it so I can hopefully improve and make the top 100 next time I decide to try and ladder it, thanks.

NOTE: Before Rating this team pleas not that it’s an offensive team. It’s not meant to have pokemon that can switch into every threat it’s more about power, revenge killing and hopefully pulling off a sweep late game when the opponents team is weakened.

The Team at a Glance​

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Team Building Process​

Like I said I wanted to base this team around Zoroark when I saw people talking about him in the general metagame discussion thread so naturally he was the first pokemon I choose.

Next I choose a pokemon who Zoroark could bluff with its Illusion ability well. Keldeo was my first choice because all of his main counters e.g. Jellicent get wreaked by Zoroark which can leave Keldeo room to sweep later in the game.

Next I added Mamo as a offensive stealth rock user as well as providing powerful priority to revenge mainly the Genies (especially Tornadus-T) as well as dragons.

Breloom was the next member added to the team. Why? Because Breloom adds another form of strong priority to the team as well as being another pokemon Zoroark can bluff pretty well getting rid of counters/checks such as Gengar & Lati@s for example.

The 5th pokemon added was Genesect. While Zoroark can't bluff him due to download he provides a great late game sweeper to the team with his great coverage moves.

The final member added to the team was the fast and fearsome Garchomp. His speed and power made a great addition to this team as well as his surprisingly good synergy with Genesect and bulk for an offensive pokemon.

A In Depth Look​

Mamoswine @Focus Sash
Thick Fat
Jolly: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe​

Stealth Rock
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Icicle Spear​

Mamo is here mainly to set up SR and revenge kill Dragon's as well as Tornadus-T who poses a huge threat to this team. Focus Sash is so I can reliably set up SR first turn if I need and can prove useful if i manage to keep it in tact. Ice Shard to revenge, Earthquake for another powerful Stab and I run Icicle Spear to break SubDD Dragonites subs as well as Multiscale, it also comes in handy in other situations. Jolly is to out speed Technilooms Mach punch but lately I think Adamant might be best

Zoroark @Choice Scarf
Illusion
Timid: 4HP/252Sp.Atk/252Spe​

Night Daze
Flamethrower
Focus Blast
Trick​

Ah the star of the show and pokemon this team started from. I choose the Choice Scarf set to he can out speed many threat's in this meta. I usually bluff him as Keldeo or Breloom depending on which is a bigger threat to the opponent’s team. I try not to lead with him as that's not what he’s best at. Zoroark is best when brought out midgame or to get rid of the counters to the pokemon I’m bluffing which it does very well however if I see an opportunity to lead with it to say get rid of a Genesect then I will. Night Daze for stab and to hurt Jellicent and Lati@s in particular though the accuracy is annoying so I may change that to Dark Pulse. Flamethrower for coverage as well as allowing me to get rid of Scarf Genesects that think they can out speed, Focus Blast for coverage and Trick rounds out the set perfectly crippling many pokemon.

Breloom @Life Orb
Technician
Jolly: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe​

Spore

Low Sweep
Bullet Seed
Mach Punch​

Surly I'm not the only one tearing team's apart with this guy, he is so good. He adds another powerful priority user to the team sticking to my theme of speed. Spore is just a useful move when I’m in against a slower pokemon, Bullet Seed for an extremely powerful Stab option is it get's the right roll, Mach Punch is the priority and Low Sweep with the Technician boost is very powerful move with the added bonus of lowering an opponent’s speed. Jolly is to out speed Tornadus-T who switch into Low Sweep.

Genesect @Life Orb
Download
Modest: 4HP/252Sp.Atk/252Spe​

Rock Polish

Bug Buzz
Ice Beam
Flamethrower​

Genesect is one of the best, if not the best pokemon in OU right now. Many people see him as broken (personally I don’t think he's that bad) but this isn’t the place to argue that. I chose what I personally think is his best set, Rock Polish. If he gets the right boost then with the speed boost from Rock Polish he's almost unstoppable. It gets to the certain point in a match when he hit every pokemon for super effective/neural damage and on an offensive team such as this that's exactly what you want. Rock Polish is for the speed boost, Bug Buzz provided a powerful Stab which is more important on this set than the Scarf one. Ice Beam and Flame Thrower give me nice coverage moves but I have been thinking about swapping one of them out for Giga Drain but I’ll have to test that. And i prefer the power Life Orb gives over other options such as Expert Belt. It's also extremely easy to set up a Rock Polish, I usually don’t bring him out until he can sweep and when I do it's either bluffing the Scarf set to make something switch out or it's locked into a weak move which I then set up and proceed to sweep.

Keldeo @Leftovers
Justified
Timid: 4HP/252Sp.Atk/252Spe​

Substutute
Calm Mind
Hydro Pump
Secret Sword​

Sub Calm Mind Keldoe is the second sweeper on my team and is again one of the best pokemon in OU even if his usage stats don’t suggest that. With the help of Zoroark removing counters he becomes one of the most deadly pokemon on this team, especially if he gets a free Sub or the opponent is running Rain. Calm Mind to boost, Hydro Pump for an extremely powerful Stab and Secret Sword rounds of the set giving me a more reliable Stab as well as hitting pokemon on their defensive side screwing special walls such as Chansey and Jirachi. He is also great if I run into any rain teams making him a even bigger threat to them.

Garchomp @Choice Scarf
Rough Skin
Jolly: 4Hp/252Atk/252Spe​

Outrage
Eathquke
Fire Fang
Dragon Claw​

Ah my beloved Garchomp how I’ve missed you. Usually I wouldn’t run 2 scarfer's on the same team but in such an offensive fast past metagame it actually isn't a bad idea. However I have been wanting to test SD/Choice Band Chomp but like I mentioned showdown is lagy for me so it's hard to test it. Maybe someone else could help me out with this. Anyway I chose ScarfChomp as my main revenge killer. It has the perks of out speed ScarfGenesect, Mence, +1 Volcarona, + Dragonite and many others. Not only the speed but the power and Stab options are so good and not to mention how bulky he is for an offensive pokemon. Outrage is his most powerful Stab option and great for spamming late game, Earthquake is another great Stab option without locking myself in a move, Fire Fang for coverage and to OHKO ScarfGenesect (Not in rain) and lastly Dragon Claw gives me another reliable Stab option without locking myself into an attack.

Conclusion​

So that my team and thanks to anyone who dropped any suggestions. Like I said I will ladder with it again soon but showdown is a pain, hopefully some people will help test out things with me. It's not the greatest team but it has had a pretty good win loss ratio with me and I’m not even that good at this game. Thanks to the people who gave me this idea in the thread. Also note when rating it like I said at the start of this post it's a very offensive team that’s not meant to switch in on everything but instead out speed most teams by using fast and powerful pokemon as well as priority.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

[Agiligross]

Hey there mate.

Well first off, with Team Preview being in PokemonShowdown, Zoroak becames too predictable.

The most noticable weakness of the this team is the exact opposite of this team, and that is a team meant for stalling. A Stall Team can easily shutdown you whole entire team with things like Taunt, Thunderwave, and Will-O-Wsip. So you should beware of status inducing moves.

Taunt seems like a big issue for your team. As it does not allow you to set-up. Unless you kill the Taunt-er before hand.

Latios is notable pokemon that could cause concern for your team.

Another thing is Rain Teams could easily stall your team. Politoed could big a huge concern if it is running Specs/Scarf with a +1 HydroPump.

Skam-Ferro/Bliss-Chansey combo could be very annoying for your team, as you have no Mix-sets on your team. If they have hazards, as most Skarmories and Ferrothorn do, that could be an issue too.

Solid offensive team though.
Good luck with your team.

 

[Blinder]

Hey man, great team! I run the same set on Keldeo when I use it, and it's surprisingly effective even without rain!

First thing though, Paralysis really fucks this team over. Many of your pokes rely on their speed, and getting a thunder wave to the face really gives them a bad day.
Garchomp really wouldn't appreciate a Will-O-Wisp, especially when locked into Outrage.

However, I really like what you've done here. You seem pretty resistant to Genesect, but if your Zoroark tricks away his scarf, he is very prone to revenge killing from ScarfSect.

Well, this team looks very impressive, and i would be a bit worried if I ran into it on PS! Good luck and happy battling!

 

[Shouting]

I've used the Zoroark + CM Keldeo core before, so I can offer a few suggestions to improve your team.

First, I really don't think Choice Scarf is the best item on Zoroark, because other than Lati@s, He outspeeds pretty much everything you want him to. I would suggest Choice Specs, which is cool since it is one of the few pokemon that can actually have a chance to OHKO Deoyxs D. Or, another option I would suggest is a Substitute set, which is one of Zoroark's best sets, since you can scout switch ins, and easily capitalize on them. Also, maybe try Extrasensory over trick or something because Toxicroak is a common switch in to Keldeo and really isn't bothered by Zoroark otherwise. It can be a little annoying to this team in general so it can be an effective lure.

 

[Gimmick]

Hey GoliathGarchomp!

This team. It's awesome! Zoroark is a cool niche and I never realized how well it pairs with Keldeo and Breloom (I always assumed its only good partner was Infernape until now). I'd like to make a few tiny suggestions, though.

Zoroark is an excellent momentum-grabber for its ability to keep your opponent in a guessing game. They switch around more than they need to, so U-turn over Trick can definitely take advantage of this. Trick really only manages to cripple Chansey, since many other "stall-type" Pokemon are hit quite hard by Zoroark anyway (Ferrothorn/Forretress/Jellicent/Celebi/Sableye/Heatran/some Tentacruel/Tyranitar/Hippowdon/etc.). Chansey is pretty well handled by the rest of your team, only walling Genesect (and Zoroark now). U-turn alleviates Choiced prediction (e.g. Focus Blast predicting TTar or Night Daze predicting Jellicent?) and grabs a ton of momentum, especially if what you're transformed into threatens the opposing Pokemon. Zoroark also has paper thin defenses anyway, so change over to a Naive nature.

Next up, Genesect. A lot of those speed EVs are unused after a Rock Polish, and some are even unused without the boost. With a Modest nature, the main things you outspeed are Modest Hydreigon and Adamant non-Scarf Haxorus, both of which are pretty much rarely ever seen. You could sacrifice this speed tier for a ton of extra bulk, helping you both set up a Rock Polish and sweep while ignoring the plethora of priority moves that run around BW2. 116 Speed EVs allow you to outspeed Scarf Latios, currently the most prominent and fast Scarfer, after a Rock Polish. You also outspeed the Jolly Breloom speed tier without the boost. This way, you can dump the remaining 140 EVs into HP. Since you're running Life Orb over Expert Belt, the extra bulk will help against stuff like Techniloom or Scizor. Similarly, one of the best coverage moves on RP Genesect is Giga Drain, so I strongly suggest that you replace Bug Buzz for it. Although it's a reliable STAB, it doesn't exactly hit many Pokemon that Ice Beam / Flamethrower / Giga Drain already do. Plus, Giga Drain OHKOs Terrakion outside of sand, Rotom-W, Gastrodon, Mamoswine, and others (at +1 SAtk). It also increases your longevity and sweeping potential, which is crucial when running the Life Orb set.

Genesect

@ Life Orb
Trait: Download
EVs: 140 HP / 252 SAtk / 116 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rock Polish
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

On Keldeo, run 4 SDef EVs instead of HP--this way, Genesect always gets an Attack boost upon switch in and therefore can never OHKO with Thunderbolt or Giga Drain. It also plays a small mindgame, prompting them to U-turn if they know Thunderbolt doesn't OHKO.

And lastly, on Garchomp, consider a Hasty Nature with Fire Blast over Fire Fang. The two Pokemon that Garchomp absolutely cannot hit with its two STABs are Bronzong and Skarmory and the latter is hit much harder by a Fire Blast. Removing Skarmory is a huge step toward a late game Garchomp sweep. It still OHKOs Genesect (0 SpAtk Garchomp Fire Blast vs 0 HP/4 SpDef Genesect: 106.01% - 125.8% (Guaranteed OHKO)), but it now has the ability to 2HKO Skarmory while Fire Fang can only 5 to 6 HKO. (252 Atk Garchomp Fire Fang vs 252 HP/252 Def Skarmory (+Def) : 24.55% - 29.34% (5-6 hits to KO)) As an added bonus, Genesect now gets an Attack boost upon switch-in, meaning it won't hurt as much to switch into Keldeo or whatever to take an Ice Beam (if you happen to be locked into Earthquake or Dragon Claw). Overall, really interesting team, nice job!

Summary of Changes

• 
  • U-turn over Trick
  • Naive nature
• 
  • EVs: 140 HP / 252 SAtk / 116 Spd
  • Giga Drain over Bug Buzz
• 
  • Move those 4 HP EVs into SDef
• 
  • Fire Blast over Fire Fang
  • Hasty nature

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

premier zoroark user reporting

I've extensively used Choice Zoroark throughout BW2, and I can honestly say that it doesn't function so well without Trick. Besides, its U-turn does pitiful damage to anything, and it's not like the scouting job is actually useful in BW2 anyway, so what's the point? On the other hand, I've used Trick to stop sweepers from sweeping or cripple walls to let my own sweepers sweep, so... I don't get why you wouldn't use Trick.

Anyway, my question is: what are you planning to disguise Zoroark as? You have three Rock resistances, so Keldeo/Breloom/Garchomp are immediately out of the question. Genesect is out of the question because of Download. Basically, I can only see you disguising it as Mamoswine, which ultimately makes it easier for the opponent to predict that it's Zoroark in (still useful for eating Scarf Genesect leads for breakfast). Personally I'd try to fit in either a spinner or an extra Pokemon that does not resist Rock. A spinner would probably be the easiest to put in, I would personally try to fit in something like Starmie over Breloom as it seems like the least useful member.